Historic Tax Credit Growth and Opportunity Act of 2021 This bill increases the rehabilitation tax credit and modifies certain requirements for the credit. The bill increases the rate of the credit for qualified rehabilitation expenditures in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019, and before January 1, 2027, after which the rate reverts to 20%. The bill increases the rate of the credit to 30% for certain small projects whose qualified rehabilitation expenditures do not exceed $2.5 million. The bill also expands the types of buildings eligible for rehabilitation by decreasing the rehabilitation threshold from 100% to 50% of project expenses. It also eliminates the basis adjustment requirement for the credit and modifies rules relating to tax-exempt use property eligible for the credit.
Agriculture Civil Rights and Equality Act or the ACRE Act This bill prohibits the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from discriminating or providing preferential treatment to any person or group on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex. The prohibitions also apply to the administration of USDA programs, including programs administered by states, territories, private entities, and institutions of higher education that utilize USDA funds. Any person who is aggrieved by conduct prohibited under the bill may commence a civil action in the appropriate U.S. district court to obtain relief.
Supporting Accurate Views of Emergency Services Act of 2021 or the 911 SAVES Act This bill requires the Office of Management and Budget, by 30 days after the bill's enactment, to categorize public safety telecommunicators as a protective service occupation under the Standard Occupational Classification System.
Military Hunger Prevention Act This bill requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to pay a basic needs allowance to certain low-income members of the Armed Forces. Specifically, those eligible for the basic needs allowance are members who (1) have completed initial entry training, (2) have a gross household income that did not exceed an amount equal to 130% of the federal poverty guidelines of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and (3) do not elect to decline the allowance. In situations where a household contains two or more eligible members, the bill specifies that only one allowance may be paid per year to one member they jointly elect. The amount of the allowance must be the aggregate amount equal to 130% of the HHS federal poverty guidelines minus the gross household income of the covered member during the preceding year divided by 12. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) of DOD must notify, in writing, individuals determined to be eligible for the allowance. The notice must include information regarding financial management and assistance programs administered by DOD for which the individuals are also eligible. Individuals who seek to receive the allowance must submit specified information to DFAS.
Washington, DC Area Helicopter Noise Information Exchange Act of 2021 This bill requires the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish a mechanism to make helicopter noise complaint data accessible to the FAA and helicopter operators operating in the Washington, DC area (i.e., the area inside of a 30-mile radius of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport). The mechanism must be based on the recommendation of the Government Accountability Office in the report published on January 7, 2021, titled Aircraft Noise: Better Information Sharing Could Improve Responses to Washington, D.C. Area Helicopter Noise Concerns . The bill also requires any helicopter operator operating in the Washington, DC area to provide helicopter noise complaint data to the FAA through such established mechanism.
This concurrent resolution supports the goals and ideals of the International Transgender Day of Visibility. It celebrates the accomplishments and leadership of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people.
Investing in Our Communities Act This bill reinstates the exclusion from gross income for interest on certain bonds issued to advance the refunding of a prior bond issue. The exclusion was repealed for bonds issued after 2017.
Safe Routes Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Transportation to waive vehicle weight limits for covered logging vehicles. The term covered logging vehicle means a vehicle that (1) is transporting raw or unfinished forest products, including logs, pulpwood, biomass, or wood chips; (2) is traveling a distance not greater than 150 air miles from origin to a storage or processing facility; and (3) meets state legal weight tolerances and vehicle configurations for transporting raw or unfinished forest products within the state boundaries in which the vehicle is operating.
Jeanette Acosta Invest in Women's Health Act of 2021 This bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a series of programs to increase access to cancer screenings for women. These programs include demonstration projects to train certain health care providers to screen for breast and cervical cancer, and increase co-testing of human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer among populations that have disproportionate rates of cervical cancer.
Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act of 2021 This bill revises drinking water requirements concerning hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process to extract underground resources such as oil or gas from a geologic formation by injecting water, a propping agent (e.g., sand), and chemical additives into a well under enough pressure to fracture the geologic formation. The bill gives the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to protect groundwater sources (e.g., wells) from certain pollution risks posed by fracking operations. The bill also establishes requirements for disclosing the chemicals intended for use in fracking operations as well as the chemicals actually used in the operations. If the proprietary chemical formulas of chemicals used in fracking operations are necessary for treatment in medical emergencies, then the operations must disclose the formulas or the specific chemical identities of trade secret chemicals to the state, the EPA, or the treating physicians or nurses upon request, regardless of whether written statements of need or confidentiality agreements have been provided.
Baby Food Safety Act of 2021 This bill imposes certain safety requirements on infant and toddler food. The bill establishes maximum levels of certain toxic elements (cadmium, and lead, mercury, and inorganic arsenic) allowable in infant and toddler food, defined as food intended to be sold for children up to 36 months old. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shall periodically review and, if necessary, further lower these levels. The FDA may also establish limits on other toxic elements upon review of relevant health and dietary data. Furthermore, facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold infant and toddler food must have certain controls and plans to ensure that their food complies with the limits on toxic elements established by this bill. Such facilities shall also make publicly available certain information, including results from tests for toxic elements in their infant and toddler foods. The bill also expands the FDA's authority to require a recall of adulterated or misbranded food to include infant and toddler food that exceeds limits on toxic elements. The Centers for Disease Control shall carry out a public awareness campaign about the risks of toxic elements in infant and toddler food. The FDA shall commission research on agricultural methods that minimize levels of toxic heavy metals in crops.
Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2021 This bill increases the number of residency positions eligible for graduate medical education payments under Medicare for qualifying hospitals, including hospitals in rural areas and health professional shortage areas. Current law provides for an increase of up to 200 positions per fiscal year beginning in FY2023, with a total increase of 1,000 positions; each hospital may receive up to 25 additional positions. The bill provides for an additional increase of 2,000 positions per fiscal year from FY2023-FY2029; during this period, each hospital may receive up to 75 additional positions in total under the bill and current law. Additionally, one-third of the positions that are made available under the bill must be allocated to hospitals that are already operating above applicable resident limits. The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to report on strategies to increase the diversity of the health professional workforce, including with respect to representation from rural, low-income, and minority communities.
